KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City charter school is being praised for improvements it made since the state tried to shut it down last year.
Education officials say Gordon Parks Elementary School has been reborn this year under a new leadership team. The school serves some of Kansas City’s neediest children. It received a federal grant because its academic performance was in the bottom 5 percent among schools statewide.
The Kansas City Star reports the school won a lawsuit last July compelling the state to renew its charter, but the ruling came only three weeks before the planned first day.
This year’s school is serving only students in kindergarten through second grade — about 80 students. Education officials say it is recording improvement in attendance, discipline and academic performance.